Are mortgage rates starting to relax after the latest announcement?
The national average for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage closed at 6.45%* on Thursday, down 0.04% from yesterday. This breaks a streak of two straight weeks of increases, according to data from Freddie Mac.
When asked for analysis, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, Sam Khater, stated, “This week, mortgage rates inched down slightly amid recent volatility in the banking sector and commentary from the Federal Reserve on its policy outlook.” Khater was also asked about the Spring housing market, and said, “Spring is typically the busiest season for the residential housing market and, despite rates hovering in the mid-six percent range, this year is no different. Interested homebuyers are acclimating to the current rate environment, but the lack of inventory remains a primary obstacle to affordability.”
How is the housing market shaping up for the 2nd half of 2023?
According to a recent article from Forbes, the biggest question on the mind of homebuyers is, “When will homes prices be affordable again?” The answer isn’t as clear as buyers would like it to be.
When asked by the team at Forbes, most experts were able to agree that the market will have greater variance by regions than before. National trends are unlikely to occur as job markets and housing inventories will fluctuate locally.
In addition to trends, experts were asked about the likelihood of a housing market crash. The overwhelming majority felt that a crash was unlikely with most highlighting tight inventory and a ready supply of potential buyers waiting on the sidelines.
What should a first step to fixing housing issues look like?
Home affordability and market inventory are both a challenge right now, especially for buyers looking to enter the market for the first time. The team at Politico put their heads together to try to solve the current issues of inventory and affordability.
The first step in their eyes? Is get better data. The U.S. struggled with unemployment until they developed unemployment metrics and started developing policies to improve. Politico has started to build a ‘housing loss rate’ model to understand how many people need a home. These metrics can be combined with unemployment data and housing creation metrics to shape policies that can help people afford and keep homes.
* National average rates accurate as of 5/4/23 from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are not advertised rates from Guaranteed Rate.
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